IRON-ORE RESERVES. 213 



by explorations or natural exjiosures. Using the Utah deposits as 

 a basis of comparison and excluding the Mexican deposits which 

 the writer has not seen, the tonnage of iron ore of all grades in 

 each of the l)etter-known districts of the West and adjacent parts 

 of British Columbia A\'ould not surpass that of one of the older Lake 

 Superior ranges; but it is extremely likely, as deep exploration 

 of the presently known deposits continues and as further deposits 

 are found, as they undoubtedly will be, that the aggregate tonnage 

 of ore in the West will equal a considerable part of that of the Lake 

 Superior region, and one would be rash to conclude that it is impos- 

 sible that an amount of iron ore ma}' be found in the West fully 

 equivalent to that in the Lake Superior region. 



If these data approximate the truth, there seems to be little cause 

 of alarm that North America will really suffer for lack of iron ore 

 for a considerably longer period than required for the exhaustion 

 of the presently known tonnage, as estimated by Tornebohm and 

 others, at the present rate of increase of production. The time of 

 exhaustion is not likeh' to come before that calculated on the same 

 basis for the world's reserves, and probably not then. It may be 

 argued that the use of lower grade ores in Europe and England 

 than in the United States is itself evidence that the exhaustion of 

 reserves is further in the future for the United States than for 

 Europe or England, But as it becomes more and more obvious 

 that the end of the supply of higher grade ores in the United States 

 IS not indefinitely in the future, and may even be within a single 

 lifetime, there is likely to be an increase in the tendency to con- 

 serve the higher grade ores, and especially the Bessemer ores, and 

 draw more largely on the lower grade supplies, a tendency favored 

 by the concentration of control in a few hands. This tendency 

 has already become well defined, as shown by the fact that pig-iron 

 production has not in recent years increased as rapidly as iron-ore 

 production. It is not at all unlikely that even the next decade may 

 see important changes in this direction. This will give value to 

 jDroperly located low-grade ores. It will ultimately mean higher 

 cost for iron, changes in the relative importance of processes for 

 conversion of iron, possible changes in the geographic distribution 

 of different phases of the iron industry, and a modification of the 

 relations of the North American iron trade with that of the rest of 

 the world. 



Professor Shaler concludes* that when the higher grade deposits 

 of the world have been exhausted, " the cost of production will 



a International Quarterly, Vol. II, 1905, pp. 230-247. 



